Thermal conducting trench in a semiconductor structure

Abstract

The invention relates to a trench filled with a thermally conducting material in a semiconductor substrate. In one embodiment, the semiconductor device has a trench defining a cell region, wherein a portion of the trench includes a thermally conducting material, and a contact to the thermally conducting material. The invention further relates to a semiconductor device and a method of forming a semiconductor device with an interlayer dielectric that is a thermally conducting material.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. A device, comprising:
 a semiconductor substrate having a trench surrounding a cell region, wherein a portion of the trench contains thermally conducting electrically insulating material having a thermal conductivity greater than 0.185 W/cmK; 
 a thermally conducting contact to the thermally conducting electrically insulating material and overlying a portion of the thermally conducting electrically insulating material; and 
 a circuit device formed in the cell region. 
 
     
     
       2. The device of  claim 1 , further comprising a layer of dielectric material on the sidewalls of the trench. 
     
     
       3. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the thermally conducting electrically insulating material is selected from the group consisting of AIN, BN, SiC, polysilicon, and CVD diamond. 
     
     
       4. The device of  claim 1 , wherein the thermally conducting contact to the thermally conducting electrically insulating material is a first thermally conducting contact, the device further comprising a transistor structure in the cell region, the transistor structure including a gate on the substrate and diffusion regions in the substrate adjacent the gate, and a second thermally conducting contact to at least one of the gate and the diffusion regions to form an electrical interconnection. 
     
     
       5. The device of  claim 4 , wherein the first thermally conducting contact is integrated with the second thermally conducting contact. 
     
     
       6. The device of  claim 4 , wherein the thermally conducting electrically insulating material is a first thermally conducting electrically insulating material and the second thermally conducting contact has a surface, the device further comprising a layer of a second thermally conducting electrically insulating material overlying the cell region adjacent to the surface of the second thermally conducting contact. 
     
     
       7. A device, comprising:
 a semiconductor substrate having a trench surrounding a cell region, wherein a portion of the trench contains a first thermally conducting electrically insulating material having a thermal conductivity greater than a thermal conductivity of silicon dioxide; 
 a thermally conducting contact to the first thermally conducting material, wherein the thermally conducting contact has a top surface and a plurality of exposed side surfaces; 
 a spacer portion of dielectric material adjacent to at least one of the exposed side portions. 
 
     
     
       8. The device of  claim 7 , wherein the first thermally conducting material has a thermal conductivity greater than 0.183 W/cmK. 
     
     
       9. The device of  claim 7 , wherein the thermally conducting material is a first thermally conducting material, and wherein the thermally conducting contact comprises a second thermally conducting material having a thermal conductivity greater than a thermal conductivity of silicon dioxide. 
     
     
       10. The device of  claim 9 , wherein the first thermally conducting material and the second thermally conducting material are the same material. 
     
     
       11. The device of  claim 9 , further comprising a third thermally conducting material over the structure. 
     
     
       12. The device of  claim 11 , wherein the first thermally conducting material and the third thermally conducting material are the same material. 
     
     
       13. The device of  claim 7 , wherein the thermally conducting contact is electrically insulating. 
     
     
       14. The device of  claim 7 , wherein the first thermally conducting material is selected from the group consisting of AIN, BN, SiC, polysilicon, and CVD diamond. 
     
     
       15. The device of  claim 7 , wherein the thermally conducting contact is electrically conductive. 
     
     
       16. The device of  claim 7 , further comprising a transistor structure in the cell region, the transistor structure including a gate on the substrate and diffusion regions in the substrate adjacent the gate. 
     
     
       17. The device of  claim 16 , wherein the thermally conducting contact is a first thermally conducting contact, and further comprising:
 a second thermally conducting contact to at least one of the gate and the diffusion regions to form an electrical interconnection. 
 
     
     
       18. The device of  claim 17 , wherein the first thermally conducting contact and the second thermally conducting contact are the same material. 
     
     
       19. The device of  claim 17 , wherein the first thermally conducting contact is integrated with the second thermally conducting contact. 
     
     
       20. The device of  claim 17 , wherein the second thermally conducting contact has a surface, and the second thermally conducting material overlies the cell region adjacent to the surface of the second thermally conducting contact.